Want a folding iPhone? Think again…

Early reviewers are now getting their hands on the hotly anticipated Samsung Galaxy Fold, a smartphone that folds out to provide users with a large, square screen similar to that of a tablet. However, some of those early reviewers are now finding that the device is breaking within days. Apple, of course, will most likely wait to create a folding iPhone until they have a proven design that can withstand millions of fold cycles without breaking, but it does bring up the question — is the high price and fragility of folding designs worth it?

Emma Mohr-McClune is the Service Director at GlobalData, which is a leading data and analytics company. She weighed in on the design issues of the Samsung Galaxy Fold today in a statement, saying:

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“So far, we’ve seen around half a dozen different ways to make smartphones fold, and in my opinion, not one of these pioneer models look rugged enough for public presentation or sale at this time.

“This new foldable design innovation triggered much scepticism from the industry analyst community, from the outset.

“The problem is, that in innovating on the basic ‘chocolate-bar’ format of the standard smartphone, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have introduced new design vulnerabilities, and that has some significant implications for device lifecycle cost and management.

“Given the anticipated high retail cost of this new design innovation, the device insurance market should certainly be worried about these initial reports.”

CNBC’s Steve Kovach tweeted yesterday that his review Galaxy Fold showed major screen issues after just one day of use (warning – strobe effect!):

That video has been viewed over 2.34 million times as of publication time. What a PR nightmare for Samsung!

While the Samsung Galaxy Fold is certainly “cool” and “Innovative”, a $2,000 smartphone that breaks after several days of use is not going to be a runaway success.